Google consolidating payment services as ‘Google Pay’ brand

Google Pay aims to be a one-stop shop for a plethora of payment needs.

Google is consolidating all of its existing payment tools under a new brand known as ‘Google Pay’.

Vice-president of product management for payments, Pali Bhat, explained that the technology and products themselves are not changing, and the transformation is more of a branding decision.

The Google payment solutions site has already been rebranded, and Google Pay will now take care of P2P transfers, web payments and NFC smartphone payments.

Bhat said that the products being merged include mobile payments and the loyalty platform, Android Pay and P2P app Google Wallet.

Google Pay logo. Image: Google

Android Pay is presently the company’s main payment brand, but the change means that it will no longer have branding specific to the Android platform.

The branding will switch over, and the Google Wallet app may also be redesigned or possibly integrated into a singular app.

Simplifying payments

This should make paying through the platform a lot more straightforward. Once your payment information is saved in your Google account, you will no longer have to figure out which app you need as they will all be consolidated under the Google Pay umbrella.

“With Google Pay, it’ll be easier for you to use the payment information saved to your Google account, so you can speed through checkout with peace of mind,” Bhat said. “Over the coming weeks, you’ll see Google Pay online, in store and across Google products, as well as when you’re paying friends.”

Airbnb, Dice, Fandango and Instacart are among the apps already available with Google Pay, with many more likely to come on board in the future.

Bhat also assured customers in India using Google’s Tez payments platform that these new changes will be rolling out to them in the coming months.